Check-row planter.



No. 866.339. PATBNTED SEPT. 17, 1907.

A. M. GRISMAN. 011501: ROW PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 1907.

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No. 866,339. PATENTBD SEPT-17, 1907.

A. M. GRISMAN. GHEGK ROW PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 1807.

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ALONZO M. ORISMAN, OF ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

CHECK-ROW PLANTER. p I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1907.

Application filed June 3,1907. Serial N0- 376,979.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALoNZo M. GRISMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Rock Island, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Check-Row Planters, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the s ame.

The object of this invention is to provide means whereby the usual check-row wire will be dispensed with and the hills will be located at the proper distance apart with mathematical exactness notwithstanding irregularities and unevenncsses in the surface of the field. This object is attained by the use of mechanism of the type illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the invention consists in certain novel features of the same as will be hereinafter first fully described and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a planter having my improvements applied thereto, the near carrying Wheel being partly broken away in order that the operating parts may be more clearly shown; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same with a part in section; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the mechanism which acts directly on the seed-dropping mechanism; Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of a clutch constituting a part of the improved apparatus, and Fig. 6 is a detail view of a scale measure forminga feature of the invention.

The carrying-Wheels, 1, are mounted on an axle, 2, which supports the frame, 3, on the front end of which are the seed-boxes, 4, seed-tubes, 5, and runners or furrow-openers, 6, all of which are of the usual or any preferred construction.

.7 designates the ordinary. rock-shaft which is held in a normal position by the usual spring (not shown) and which is actuated against the force 'of the said spring to cause a dropping of the seed at intervals.

The elements so far enumerated may be of any preferred construction and form no part of my invention which relates particularly to the means for operating the seed-dropping rock-shaft.

Upon the frame are uprights or standards, 9, in the upper ends of which a longitudinal fixed shaft or rod, 10, is secured. Slidably mounted on this rod is a grooved collar, 11, upon which is fitted a ring, 12, the said ring being connected by a pitman, 13, with the seed-dropping rock-shaft 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The sliding collar 11 is connected by a link, 14, with a central crank-arm, 15, of a rock-shaft, 16, which is mounted in suitable hearings on the face of a worm gear, 17. This worm gear is rotatably mounted on the fixed shaft 10 and receives motion from a worm, 18, which is journaled in suitable bearings on the frame and is actuated through mechanism which will be presently described. The rock shaft 16 is provided with a crankarm, 19, at its end which extend into the path of a pin, 20, projecting radially from the circumference of an indicator Wheel or disk, 21, loosely fitted on the rod 10 adjacent to the worm gear 17 and constructed to move with a central gear wheel, 22, which may be made integral with the indicator wheel. This gear wheel meshes with a pinion, 23, secured on the inner end of a transverse shaft, 24, which is suitably mounted on the frame and has a sprocket wheel, 25, on its outer end. The said sprocket wheel is connected by a chain, 26, with a second sprocket wheel on the inner end of a shaft, 27, which is journaled in runners, 28, and carries a bladed wheel, 29, between said runners. These runners 28 are supported by a hanger or oscillatory frame, 30, which is pivotally mounted on the shaft 24 by means of a tubular offset, 31, at its upper end, as shown in Fig. 2, and carries intermediate guiding rollers, 32, by which the chain is maintained in proper position.

The operation of the parts thus far described will be readily understood. As the machine is drawn over the field, the bladed wheel 29 will be rotated through the engagement of its blades with the earth and the sprocket chain will be thereby actuated so as to impart a rotary movement to the sprocket wheel 25 and the shaft 24 to which said sprocket wheel is secured. The rotation of the shaft 24 is, of course, transmitted directly to the pinion 23 and through it to the gear wheel 22 and the indicator wheel 21 so that the radial pin 20 will be brought against the outer crank arm 19 of the rock shaft 16. The said shaft will be thereby turned so as to cause its arm 15 to pull upon the link 14 and, consequently, slide the collar 11 upon the fixed shaft. This sliding movement of the collar will draw upon the pitman 13 so as to rock the seed-dropping shaft and thereby discharge the seed. As soon as the pin 20 clears the arm 19, the spring attached to the seed-dropping shaft will return the same and the parts connected therewith to their former positions. It will thus be seen that seed will be dropped at the end of each complete revolution of the wheel or disk 21 or at the end of each halfrevolution if a crank arm 19 be provided at each end of the shaft and that the usual check row wire is unnecessary. If the surface of the field Were perfectly level, the pin 20 would impinge against the arm 19 at regular equal intervalsand the seed would be dropped at such points that the rows of hills transversely to the line of proper point for the hill. As a part of my invention I have devised means for overcoming this inequality and locating the hills in perfectly straight rows transversely' as well as longitudinally of the field.

The hanger or frame 30 is connected through a link, 33, with a crank arm, 34, on the end of a shaft, 35, mounted transversely on the frame and carrying a lever arm, 36, at an intermediate point of its length. To this lever arm, I pivotally attach the levers, 37, 38, the inner ends of which are pivotedto movable clutch members, 39, 40, and are disposed on opposite sides of the shaft, 41, upon which said clutch members are mounted. Between the members 39 and 40, a central clutch member, 42, is secured rigidly to the shaft 41 and said member is provided with an annular flange, 43, on both its faces which flange may be engaged frictionally by dogs, 44, on the outer disks or members. These dogs are normally pressed outward by springs, 45, attached thereto and to lugs, 46, on their respective members and they are so shaped that when the member to which they are pivoted is rotated in one direction they will ride loosely on the flange but when the member is rotated in the opposite direction they will engage the flange and lock the same and the member together. The shaft 41 may carry the worm 18 or it may, as shown, be connected with the same through pinions, 47, 48.

As the planter is drawn over the field, the runners 28 and wheel 29 will, of course, follow the inequalities of the surface and thereby impart a vibratory motion to the hanger or frame 30. This movement of the frame will be imparted to the shaft 35 and lever arm 36 through the link 33 and the arm 34 and the levers 37 and 38 will follow the movements of the lever arm 36 which will be the same as those of the runner and the wheel 29. As the lever arm 36 moves in one direction, one of the clutch members or disks, 39 or 40, will be locked to the central disk, 42, and move the same and the shaft 41 so as to actuate the worm 18 and thereby rotate the worm gear 17. As the lever arm 36 is swung in the direction opposed to its former movement, the previously inactive disk will be locked to the central disk or member 42 and continue the rotation of the same and, through the intermediate gearing, the rotation of the worm gear. As a result of this operation, the rock shaft 16 carried by the worm gear will be shifted so as to carry the arm 19 forward from the initial position of the pin 20 and when the said pin again impinges against said arm the planter will be in a position to drop the seed at a point in a straight line with the preceding portion of the transverse row.

The periphery of the wheel or disk 21 is divided into a number of equal spaces which are numbered in both directions from the pin 20 which constitutes the zero point. These spaces are equal in number to the number of inches in each space or check in the field and upon each side of the planter I provide a two-part scale or measure, 49, each member of which is spaced and numbered in the same manner as the periphery of the indicating wheel or disk 21 is spaced and numbered, the lower half or member being stationary and the upper half being mounted to slide thereon in the hangers 50. After planting across the field, the machine is stopped after dropping the last hill and the operator notes how @r the contact point 20 has passed which will be denoted by the left-hand number on the wheel under the crank-arm 19. A small stake is then driven in the ground under the same number on the scale 49 at that side of the machine toward which he intends to turn, which stake will be in the line of the last row along the end of the field. The wheel 29 is then lifted clear of the ground and held in that position by any convenient means so that the wheels 17 and 21 will both be inoperative during the turning of the machine. The planter is then turned and placed in position in the line for the next row along the field but stopped just dropped and the upper member of the scale 49 is moved until the zero mark thereon is over the stake. The number on the upper member of the scale which then appears above the zero mark of the lower member will indicate how far the planter is from the end hill. The wheel or disk 21 is then moved until that same number on the right-hand portion of its periphery is under the arm 19 thereby setting the mechanism for accurate planting.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:-

1. In a planter, the combination with seed-dropping mechanism, of means for automatically varying the dropping interval.

2. A planter having seed-dropping mechanism, an indicator for setting the said mechanism, and a scale on the side of the planter marked to correspond with said indicator and comprising a lower fixed member and an upper slidable member.

3. The combination with a seeddropping shaft, of a rock-shaft connected therewith, means for actuating said rock-shaft to operate the seed-dropping shaft, and means for shifting the said rock-shaft automatically to vary the dropping intervals.

4. The combination of seeddropping mechanism, a rockshaft connected therewith to actuate the same, a rotary tappet arranged to actuate said rock-shaft, a groundwheel, gearing between said ground-wheel and said tappet, and means for shifting the rock-shaft relatively to the tappet.

5. The combination of seed-dropping mechanism, a rockshatt connected therewith to actuate the same, a disk arranged adjacent to and parallel to the plane of said rockshaft and provided with a radial pin arranged to impinge against the crank-arm of the same, a ground-wheel, and gearing between said ground-wheel and the disk.

shaft connected therewith to actuate the same, a vibratory frame, a ground-wheel mounted in said frame, means actuated by said ground-wheel for actuating the rock-shaft, and means actuated by the vibratory frame for shifting the position of the rock-shaft relatively to the means for actuating it.

7. The combination of a fixed shaft or rod, a collar slidably mounted thereon, a seed-dropping shaft connected with said collar, a rock-shaft also connected with said collar and arranged to rotate about the fixed shaft, means for rotating the rock-shaft about the fixed shaft, and means for vibrating the rock-shaft to slide the collar and thereby actuate the seed-dropping shaft.

8. The combination of seed-dropping mechanism, a rockbefore reaching the stake. The wheel 29 is then shaft connected therewith to actuate the same, a vibratory shaft, a clutch member connected with the vibratory frame, 10 frame, a ground-wheel carried by said frame, gearing actuand gearing controlled by said clutch member for rotating ated by said ground-Wheel to vibrate ,the rock-shaft, a the carrier for the rock-shaft.

carrier for the rock-shaft, and means actuated by the vi- In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification .in bratory frame for shifting the said carrier. the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

9. The combination of dropping mechanism, a rock-shaft ALONZO M. CRISMAN. connected therewith, a rotary carrier for the rock-shaft, a Witnesses: vibratory frame, a ground-wheel carried by the said frame, F. B. COOROUGH,

gearing actuated by the ground-wheel to vibrate the rock- .T. D. CHAMBERS. 

